Stefan's War
by storyloversamm
Summary: When Mathieu arrives at the school, he brings his son with him, Stefan. Their presence changes the school and the people within. Read about their struggles as Mathieu attempts to reach his students through music and Stefan battles with his dark past... (Based on the French film, Les Choristes (The Chorus) with an extra character added to the story - Stefan. )
1. Chapter 1

Stefan's War

**Note**: This story is largely based on a French film called _Les Choristes_ (_The Chorus_), with the character of Stefan added. It's just an idea that got in my head, "What if there'd been a girl in the school?" And this came to me. Hope you enjoy it! (It may be easier to follow the story if you have seen the film. If you haven't seen it – do! It's an amazing film with a lovely ending.) The girl appears later in the story as we learn more about Stefan's past…

**Chapter One** – Prologue

Pierre Morhange was one of the most famous musicians and conductors in the C20th. Born in France in 1936 and having lived through the Second World War, he graduated from Lyon Music School and went on to travel the world with his music. He was very successful and lived a comfortable life. The only thing he had little success with was love. Oh, sure, there were plenty of women in his life but they never lasted – the only prominent lady in his life was his mother. He truly loved his mother and took care of her. Even during his younger days when he was a bit of a 'bad boy', he still adored her.

So this was why, while he was performing in New York, he was devastated to learn that his mother had passed away. The funeral took place back home in France on a miserable, grey, rainy day (the weather reflecting Pierre's mood). Even after everyone had gone, Pierre stood by the grave for some time, feeling very lost without her…

A few days after the funeral, when Pierre was resting at his house, he received a strange visitor. It was raining again when a little grey-haired man came to his door, carrying an umbrella and a leather case. He looked to be around 60, slightly younger than Pierre himself. "Remember me? Fond de l'Etang!" Pierre stared at him blankly. "'My dad's picking me up on Saturday'? I'm Pepinot!"

A look of recognition appeared on Pierre's face and he smiled. "Pepinot. How long ago was it?"

"Oh. Only about 50 years."

Inviting the man in, they sat in his living-room and Pepinot took out an old black-and-white photo of a large group of boys. The photo was from 1950 and showed the two men as young boys – Pierre being almost fourteen and Pepinot around nine. It showed their classmates and teachers from their old school, Fond de l'Etang.

"You're the kid in the middle, front row." Pierre pointed to a small, dark-haired boy.

"And you," said Pepinot, pointing to a blond-haired, sullen-looking boy standing in the middle. "And look, there's Stefan." He pointed to another small, dark-haired boy around 12-years-old, standing near to Pierre and smiling up at him, no doubt laughing at the fact that he was sulking again. "He arrived with the supervisor, remember?"

Pierre looked at the balding man standing by the side of the class and pointed to him. "The supervisor. What was his name?"

"Clement Mathieu."

"Clement Mathieu," recalled Pierre. "Whatever happened to him?"

Pepinot pulled a book from the leather case and handed it over. "Open it."

Pierre looked inside and read, "Fond de l'Etang. 1949."

"It's the diary he kept at Fond de l'Etang. His whole life. Our lives, too. It was meant for you. I'd have rather given it to you in different circumstances but…"

Pierre smiled sadly and turned the page. There was a drawing of the school gate and a hand-written paragraph below. The date was at the top: _January 15__th__, 1949_.

Pierre began to read. "After failing in numerous undertakings, I was sure the worst was still to come…."


	2. Chapter 2

Stefan's War

**Chapter Two** – Welcome to Fond de l'Etang

The school gate of Fond de l'Etang loomed as the man and boy approached. The balding man was wearing a dull, grey coat and carried a large suitcase. The small boy beside him was around 12-years old and carried a slightly smaller suitcase. He, too, wore grey and was very pale – his dark brown hair was the only thing that stood out in the snowy mist.

The man, Clement Mathieu, glanced at the boy beside him, Stefan, and saw the miserable face he wore. Stefan had caused a great deal of trouble when he learned they were going to a boarding school. He'd grown used to Mathieu's life and the constant travelling as Mathieu went from post to post but this time, it had been different. It was almost as if he was frightened of going but that was ridiculous. Then again, Mathieu was rather nervous himself. It was a boarding school for difficult children, or so the ad said. Fond de l'Etang – 'rock bottom'. Hardly something to look forward to. But he needed the money and had no other opportunities for work. It was lucky that they had agreed to take Stefan, too, and enrol him in the school though there was little room.

As they got to the gate, they slowed. A small boy, around 9-years-old, was standing behind the gate. "Hello," greeted Mathieu. "Are you alone? Why are you there?"

"I'm waiting for Saturday."

"Why?"

"My Dad's coming to get me."

"But today's not Saturday," explained Mathieu, who was about to say more when a shout of 'Pepinot!' was heard. They turned to see a grey-haired man running towards them, holding a set of keys. "Pepinot!"

"Hello!" called Mathieu. "I'm Clement Mathieu, the new supervisor. And this is my son, Stefan."

The little group headed towards the school, Pepinot walking ahead and Stefan lagging behind, half-hoping there was still a chance they would turn around and leave. The two men walked side-by-side and fell into conversation. "First time as a supervisor?" asked the man, who was 'Old Maxence' and claimed he was the school janitor, male nurse, supply clerk and window mender.

"I've taught in a private school."

"Teaching what?"

"Music."

"Ah," said Maxence. "You'll get on well with Rachin." At Mathieu's confused look, he explained, "The principal. A former trumpet player."

At that point, some girls passed by and said hello. They looked curiously at the new boy, who stared back for a moment before turning away without a second interest. They, however, watched him for a moment longer before continuing on their way. "Rachin's daughters," explained Maxence. "He lives there." He pointed to the building the girls had just come from. "You've never met Mr Rachin?"

"Not yet. Mrs Boissemand got me the job."

Maxence nodded at this. By this time, they had reached the huge, metal front door – which, judging by the weight and strength of it, might have been more fitting on a castle. Or a prison. The resounding clang it made when it closed behind them certainly gave a feeling of confinement and that there was no way back. Stefan stared at it almost longingly, wishing he could go back, before turning away. He found Pepinot staring at him and, after a moment, smiled at him before looking away again. Pepinot headed off to his class.

Once inside, they found a boy scrubbing at the floors. "What's he done?" asked Mathieu.

"He's punished by Mr Rachin. Two weeks of housework. He's the cleaning lady," explained Maxence.

Stefan stared in horror before throwing a look at Mathieu. Mathieu, seeing this, asked, "What are these kids like?"

Maxence sighed when he saw nobody had told the newcomers about the boys and led them through the building. Oh, what a surprise was in store for them. He led them to a little office. "My infirmary. I'll show you my garden." However, he couldn't get in. "What've they done now?" groaned Maxence, trying to get in.

Mathieu went to help when a voice stopped them. "Clement Mathieu?"

Another man stood at the top of the stairs, with white hair and a rather pointed nose. It was Rachin, the principal. And he was not a friendly person. Stefan realised this at once with the haughty look he wore – the realisation went further when he coldly greeted Mathieu and reprimanded him for being late and not addressing him as 'sir'.

Rachin looked at the boy. "Is this your son?"

Stefan spoke for the first time. "Yes, sir. I'm Stefan, Mathieu's son. It was agreed that I could come here…sir." He looked slightly nervous, in case he wasn't supposed to speak but Rachin seemed to accept it.

"Very well. We have little room so we have made you a room in a small closet off the main dorm. Mathieu, you have the supervisor's room beside the dorm so you can keep an eye on the boys. Now, follow me, both of you." He led them up the stairs. "First learn our house rules. You'll take over the 4pm class, after my class-"

A loud crash grabbed their attention and they ran back down to Maxence, who had cried out in pain. The door had not just been stuck by the boys – they had laid a trap and it ricocheted back, hitting Maxence on the temple and causing a nasty cut. Rachin was annoyed, rather than concerned – Mathieu helped Maxence sit down while Rachin fumed over the trick and he shouted the supervisor down when he suggested a doctor, claiming they cost money. He yelled at Mathieu to ring the school bell for an assembly and went out into the yard, blowing his whistle and shouting 'Assembly'.

A loud rumbling took over the clangs of the bell and the boys filed out past the infirmary with their teachers. Rachin, Mathieu and Stefan stood by the infirmary and watched as they passed, Stefan looking rather dazed and anxious. A few shouts of 'baldy' came Mathieu's way but were immediately silenced by teacher's yells. The last boy, a rather tall kid they would learn was named Corbin, got hit on the head by Rachin. "Silence."

"I said nothing," cried the kid, honestly.

"Silence!" cried another teacher and gave him another whack on the head. The boy sighed but kept walking. The teachers were assembled along the steps just outside the door while the boys were lined up before them in the yard. Mathieu joined the teachers and Stefan, not knowing where else to go, just stood beside him.

Rachin stood in front and addressed the boys, explaining about the trick on Maxence and demanding to know who was behind it. If not, each boy would be locked up for six hours until someone confessed. Of course, nobody owned up. Stefan rolled his eyes – like they would actually admit it. Rachin turned to Mathieu but Mathieu didn't notice; he was too busy fidgeting and watching the boys, trying to look like an authority figure. Stefan, who had been frowning at the constant moving, caught Mathieu's attention and indicated to Rachin, who was growing impatient. Mathieu quickly stepped up.

Rachin turned to another teacher with lots of dark hair and a dark moustache. "Mr Chabert, the student roll." Mr Chabert handed over the student register and Rachin spoke again, "Your new supervisor doesn't know you yet."

"Baldy!" came a shout, followed by lots of laughter. Stefan couldn't help smiling, either, and looked down to hide it.

"Silence!" cried Mr Chabert.

Rachin continued, "Being new and impartial, he'll select the first to be punished." Laughter rang out again when Mathieu almost dropped the register, which was quickly cut off by another 'Silence!" Being made to choose a name at random, Mathieu read out "Boniface". A small boy with glasses and curly, light-brown hair looked up.

Rachin sighed. "Too bad." As they later learned, Boniface was a good kid – the kind that did well in class and would never play tricks like the kind Maxence had endured. "Chabert, grab Boniface." Chabert grabbed Boniface and dragged him off, the boy protesting his innocence all the way. Stefan and Mathieu stared after them, horrified. But Rachin wasn't finished. "Until the culprit confesses, no more class breaks or family visits. So denounce him fast."

Mathieu muttered to another teacher, "This encourages snitching."

Rachin, having heard, turned on him. "You're new here. You still have illusions. We'll discuss it in a week. Ask Mr Regent, who you're replacing, to fill you in." He indicated the tall, thin man Mathieu had just spoken to.

He made to leave but Stefan stopped him. "Mr Rachin…sir. That boy, Boniface. Where is he being taken?"

"To the dungeons."

"You have _dungeons_?!"

"It's a padded cell we call the dungeon. Boys are locked up there for punishment." He looked at Mathieu. "It's unfortunate you chose Boniface. He's rather a good student and wouldn't do this but…" He made to leave again.

"But if Boniface didn't do it," continued Stefan, "and you don't believe he did, it's not fair to punish him. He's innocent. And this punishment you're suggesting encourages snitching, which isn't right, either."

"This is how we operate here!" snapped Rachin. "If you don't like our methods, tough! And if you don't behave, you may find _yourself_ in the dungeon. Supervisors' son or not, you will be treated the same as any other boy here. Now _enough_!" And with that, Rachin stormed off, leaving Stefan glaring after him.

"I hate this place already!" muttered Stefan, angrily. "Fond de l'Etang! Welcome to hell!"


	3. Chapter 3

Stefan's War

**Chapter Three** – First day

Mr Regent showed the newcomers to the dorm. There were two classes with about 40 boys in each – Mathieu would be focusing on Class A. The boys slept on hard beds with few blankets and it was rather damp. The room Mathieu had, which Mr Regent was vacating, was right beside it with a window to look into the dorm and was just as horrible. The hallway that led to the dorm had a small closet-like space opposite Mathieu's room and this was where Stefan would be sleeping. They had forced a bed in here – how they managed it, Stefan would never know, as it was stuck unevenly between the walls and could not be moved as there was so little space. There was also a small chest of drawers for his belongings. In the dorms, there was a row of shelves and coat-hooks on the back wall for the boys' belongings.

After dumping his things on his bed, Stefan went to see Mathieu in his new room and found him with Mr Regent, who was just packing up the last of his things. "Why are you leaving?" he had just heard Mathieu ask.

In answer, Mr Regent rolled up the sleeve on his right arm to show a long scar. "Ten stitches. A scissors slash." He continued to pack. "Because I confiscated Mouton's cigarettes."

"Mouton?"

"A boy called Mouton."

"Is he still here?" asked Mathieu, looking worried.

Mr Regent looked at him for a moment, like he didn't know whether to pity Mathieu or to warn him of something, and the look sent a shiver through Stefan. While Stefan had been upset before about coming to a boarding school which sounded like a nightmare (but deciding to just suffer in silence for Mathieu's sake as they needed the money), he now found that he was willing to do just about anything to get away! Mr Regent seemed to feel the same way, Stefan was sure of it.

As they walked Mr Regent to the door (Stefan following as he had no idea what else to do), they learned that a boy, Le Querrec, had booby-trapped Maxence's door. He'd been bragging about it earlier and Mr Regent had overheard but he'd done nothing as he would have missed his bus. Maxence had punished him for breaking windows and the boy wanted revenge. Mr Regent warned them about Le Querrec – and another boy, Morhange. "He doesn't say much, but watch out! Face of an angel, spawn of the devil!" As he left, he handed over his keys and wished Mathieu good luck. Then he was gone.

A heavily bandaged Maxence showed them around: first the photos of the benefactresses and the class schedule. The principal taught French and History, while everything else was taught by a Mr Langlois. At that moment, Mr Langlois appeared from a door. A strange looking man with little, round glasses; when introduced, he seemed surprised that Mathieu was still a supervisor at his age and nodded his head when Mathieu said he'd taught as well. And with that, he walked off. Stefan watched him go. Yes, he thought, a very strange little man. "He's the most fun," whispered Maxence. Stefan's eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline at this statement and he stared after Mr Langlois in surprise.

A loud rumble and a yell sounded from behind the door Mr Langlois had just come from. "Go to your class," said Maxence. "You're late. No need to point the way." He left them to it.

"What, so…we just follow the noise?" asked Stefan.

"I guess," murmured Mathieu, hesitating for a moment before opening the door. The two walked down a little corridor, at the end of which was the class. There was a double door with large windows and, through them, they could see that the class was in uproar over something. A boy was standing by the door, obviously a lookout for the teacher. He turned at that moment and, mouth dropping and eyes going wide at the sight of Mathieu, ran off. "Here comes Baldy!" he cried.

The class had immediately settled down by the time Mathieu opened the door. "Gentlemen," he greeted them and closed the door. Stefan stood beside him, unsure what to do. There was a skeleton next to the door and in his mouth was a lit cigarette, with the smoke blowing everywhere. Stefan smiled when he saw it and the whole class laughed. Mathieu reluctantly smiled and put out the cigarette. "No smoking in class. That applies to everyone. Even you, sir!" He spoke to the skeleton jokingly.

Walking to the desk, he tripped on the stair that led to it and dropped his leather case with all his notes inside. A boy in a blue jumper immediately jumped forward, grabbed it and run up the stairs to the back of the class. Mathieu gave chase. The case was thrown from boy to boy, with cheers and yells on all sides, until blue jumper boy reached the top and caught the case and Mathieu grabbed him. Stefan had rushed over to the bottom of the steps but, not knowing what the boys would do to him, stopped there and watched. If he tried to help, the boys would probably hold him back and make his life hell after class. Looking down, he saw little Pepinot sitting at the desk beside him, who was laughing along with everyone else.

As Mathieu caught the boy, Rachin walked in. All the boys immediately stood and crossed their arms. At Rachin's command, they all sat down, arms still crossed. Rachin looked at the boy. "You, again! What did he do?"

Mathieu paused for a minute. "Er, nothing, sir." Stefan smiled. This was why he liked Mathieu; much like Stefan, he didn't like getting people in trouble or seeing people being punished. Blue jumper boy stared at Mathieu in surprise and confusion.

"What do you mean?" demanded Rachin. "You'll punish him!"

"No – sending him to the blackboard," said Mathieu. "I'd asked for silence."

"And it was sorely needed," agreed Rachin. "Don't make me come back." He looked at Stefan, who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs. "And you! What are you doing?"

"I was…just looking for a seat!"

"Well, there's one there beside Pepinot," Rachin said, pointing out the second seat on the first row. Stefan sat down and, looking around at the other boys, copied them and crossed his arms. Rachin left and a relieved, slightly confused murmur went around the class. Obviously, no teacher had ever lied before to protect a student.

Mathieu dragged the boy in the blue jumper to the front of the class and told him to stand in the corner. He turned to face the class. He spoke about the boy alone in detention for doing nothing and said he knew who the real culprit was. After a chance to come forward, he asked for Le Querrec. The boy in the corner, in the blue jumper, admitted it was him. The boy protested but Mathieu was adamant on taking him to the principal. Before leaving, he needed to leave someone in charge. "Don't look at me," said Stefan. "I'm the new kid – they're not gonna listen to me."

"That's all right," said Mathieu. "I have another boy in mind – Morhange." A ring of laughter sounded from the class. They knew there was no way Morhange would keep order – he would lead the class into chaos more than likely. "Which of you is Morhange?"

"Me, sir."

A blond boy in a striped grey jumper raised his hand. Stefan turned to look at him and gasped. Oh, he _did_ look like an angel. He had one of those faces that gave the image of innocence and could melt hearts. But apparently, he was a nightmare!

Mathieu approached him. "So you're the angel face?" Morhange looked at him.

Mathieu got him down to the front of the class and told him off for being untidy, with his shirt sticking out of his shorts. Morhange was around fourteen and rather skinny, and almost as tall as Mathieu. (But then Mathieu wasn't very tall.)

Mathieu dragged Le Querrec to the principal's office. When they were almost at the door, Le Querrec cried, "Have mercy, sir!"

Mathieu stopped to look at him. "Did you show mercy to the boy who's locked up? Or to Maxence?"

"I meant no harm. It was just for a laugh."

"For a _laugh_?!" He was about to say more when Rachin came charging up the stairs, dragging a boy by his ear and shouting about how he'd had enough. Mathieu and Le Querrec hid around the corner and watched as Rachin dragged the boy into his office. "Who's that?" asked Mathieu.

"Leclerc," answered Le Querrec. "It's the third time he's run away. He's going back into detention."

"You'll have company," said Mathieu, grabbing the boy and making for the principal's door. Le Querrec pulled back almost fearfully, which stalled Mathieu, and it became clear why – the sounds of Rachin belting the boy were heard, along with the boy's yells of pain. Mathieu thought for a moment. The boy needed to be punished but not by Rachin's methods. "Listen," he said, turning to Le Querrec. "Maybe we can work this out. You seriously hurt Mr Maxence. I won't punish you by taking you to the principal." Another yell sounded from the office. "You'll work at the infirmary every day after class. You'll nurse Mr Maxence. You'll look after him til he's well. You agree?"

The boy nodded, knowing this was the only option he had and that the alternative would be much worse.

Back in the classroom, there was uproar again. The boys were everywhere, yelling and throwing bits of paper. Stefan was still sitting by Pepinot and the two were watching the goings-on with amusement, Stefan glancing towards the door every so often in search of Mathieu. He could do nothing to stop the boys so figured he may as well enjoy himself by watching. Morhange was up at the blackboard, writing rude words and drawing Mathieu's face with the word 'Egghead' above it when Mathieu walked in.

The class immediately quieted down and Morhange paused before turning to the door. Mathieu had come back! Stefan watched in apprehension. She knew Mathieu wouldn't punish him by taking him to Rachin but he wouldn't let this go, either. "Not bad," said Mathieu, walking forward and looking at the drawing, "but I can do better."

He took the chalk and make Morhange stand sideways so his back was to the blackboard. He then started to draw. Morhange tried to peek but Mathieu made sure he kept facing forward and soon, the class started sniggering. Mathieu's drawing of Morhange's face wasn't too bad – much exaggerated, of course, as it was meant to be comical. Mathieu added a smile and a 'touch of colour' by drawing a big red circle at the end of Morhange's nose. Morhange frowned as the class laughed and Mathieu sent Morhange to his seat, doubting anyone would draw on his blackboard again.

He then asked the class to write their name, age and what they wanted to be when they grew up so he could get to know them better. Surprisingly, they all did it – all but one. The youngest one, Pepinot.

Mathieu kneeled beside him. "You're not writing? How long have you been here? A long time?"

"I don't know."

"Write, little fella." Mathieu went to his desk and, after a moment and some encouragement from Stefan, he started writing. Stefan smiled at the little boy – although Pepinot was only around four years younger than himself, he seemed much smaller. Stefan sighed. How he wished he was taller! He'd always been rather small for his age. That was probably due to…his early upbringing. He'd had rather a poor start that few people knew of. Still, never mind. He had to forget that…

Night came and as everyone got ready for bed, Mathieu reflected on his first day: exhausting! He half-wondered why he had come. Rachin scared him, along with the building and even the kids – he half-feared they may kill him in his sleep. Stefan was thinking the exact same thing in his little room and was having trouble sleeping because of it. Though they were in bed, the boys were still wide awake and were mainly whispering or smoking. One of the larger boys took Pepinot's blanket off him. "My blanket," he whispered, sadly, knowing there was nothing he could do as the older boy was unlikely to give it back.

As Mathieu prepared for bed, he ensured the safety of his leather case (perhaps his most precious possession) by padlocking it into a cupboard. He then looked over all the boys' work and found they all dreamed of fabulous jobs: 2 firemen, 3 cowboys, 1 tiger-tamer, 1 fighter-pilot, 2 spies, 1 Napoleonic general, 1 hot-air balloonist, 3 foreign legion soldiers…but not a single supervisor. He looked at Stefan's work. Stefan told him he had no idea what he wanted to do when he got older and had written 'unknown' on his paper for this part. Mathieu sighed. He sometimes felt he didn't know Stefan very well. The boy was very private and rather reluctant to share things but he must have hopes and dreams of some sort, even if he wouldn't admit to them…


	4. Chapter 4

Stefan's War

**Chapter Four** – Punishment and Music

The night passed by without event and they soon settled into the school routine, Stefan a bit reluctantly. He seemed wary of making friends and mainly kept to himself; he had always been a bit of a loner, Mathieu knew, but this was different. He totally distanced himself from the other boys. The only one he seemed fond of was Pepinot. He was nice to the small boy and helped him sometimes with his work but he continually wandered off by himself and would only be near the boys when he had to, during class and meal-times – even then, he said little. Mathieu most often found him in the little school library or in his room, reading.

Le Querrec kept his promise and tended to Maxence. Mathieu dropped in one day when the doctor was there, who was very surprised to hear that the boy had 'volunteered' to care for Maxence. "Wonders will never cease," he said. He admired how patient Maxence was with the boys, knowing how bad they could be, but Maxence argued he was tough and that there were those that were worse off. "Feel sorry for the kids," he explained. "We had a death here."

"A death?" asked Mathieu, surprised.

"Mouton was his name. Jumped off the roof. Luckily, he was an orphan." Mouton – the boy who had attacked Mr Regent with scissors. Maxence looked at Le Querrec. "It's like him. Everyone says it's hopeless. He's a good kid. You've just got to know him."

"Old Maxence is nice, huh?" Mathieu asked of the boy, who had been looking down the whole time, rather ashamed. He continued to do so. "Le Querrec, I'm talking to you. Old Maxence is nice, no? No?"

"Yes," the boy whispered.

"I didn't hear you."

"Ah, he's just shy," said Maxence, smiling. "He's very shy, like me."

A couple days passed by and Mathieu went to see Rachin. He was standing in the yard, watching the boys exercising during PE and ensuring they were behaving. "May I speak to you, sir?"

"Leaving us so soon?" asked Rachin, clearly expecting another teacher to leave as so many others had.

"No, sir. I'd like to try an experiment." The PE class had ended and the boys filed past them into the building, some of them making rude gestures behind Rachin's back as they went by. "To do with Maxence's accident."

"It was no accident," argued Rachin.

"I'd like to ask for three favours."

"Is that all?" asked Rachin, sarcastically.

Mathieu continued. "1. End the class punishment. 2. Let me deal with the culprit. And 3. Let me not reveal his name."

"If you know it."

"If I know it, of course."

"You think highly of yourself. You think you can just find out. If you do, I'll end the class punishment. But you won't find out. Or I'm an idiot." He made to leave.

"I know him, sir."

This made Rachin turn at once. "Really? So…who is it?"

"That's not part of the deal."

"All right, fine! But I don't like this. I want no trouble in your class!" He walked off.

"I've got them under control, sir," Mathieu called after him.

Rachin laughed and shouted back, "It's too soon for that."

Mathieu went back to his room happy, but this feeling wasn't to last long – for there, he found the padlocked cupboard open and his leather case on the bed, empty. The boys had broken in! Out in the hallway, he met Stefan coming towards him with a book, having just come back from the library. "Stefan!"

"Mathieu, what's wrong?" Stefan never said 'Dad', he always said 'Mathieu'. Even outside of class.

"The boys! They have been in my room and taken my papers! They broke the padlock!"

"You put a padlock on? That's temptation! That padlock told them there was something valuable behind it and probably made them more determined to get in there. I haven't locked any of my stuff away and it's still there – and I know they've been in my room. I've noticed sometimes that my things aren't where I left them. But then, I have nothing really valuable to protect."

"That's not true. You have your mother's necklace and that charm bracelet."

"I keep them on me at all times."

"And your diary?"

Stefan paled, or so Mathieu though as he was always rather white, and quickly glanced round. "Shush! Not so loud. I found a secret place for that – with nothing so obvious as a padlock! Here, I'll help you look for the papers." He threw the book he held on his bed and the two set off.

Morhange had taken the papers, along with Le Querrec and Corbin. They were in the bathroom and had them spread all over the floor, wondering what was so valuable about them that 'Baldy' had locked them away.

"No nude girls."

"I never said there were."

"What's on your bit?"

"Ave Maria for soprano, by Clement Mathieu."

"Mine says, 'String quartet' by Clement Mathieu."

"Looks like music."

"How would you know?"

"Could it be Morse?"

"Secret codes!"

"He may be a fraud!"

"A spy disguised as a supervisor."

"Quick! Baldy's coming!" came a shout from outside and the boys hurriedly grabbed the papers, trying to hide them.

But instead of Mathieu, Stefan walked in and saw the papers. "_You_ have Mathieu's papers!" He quickly looked out and saw Mathieu coming. "He's coming this way. Give them here and I'll say I just found them. No need for you to get involved."

"Stefan? Have you checked the bathroom?"

"Yes, Mathieu!" cried Stefan, standing in the doorway so Mathieu couldn't get in. "There's nothing here."

But something told Mathieu that his son was lying and he pushed past into the bathroom to find the boys standing facing him – and his papers on the floor behind them. "Give those back!"

The boys parted as Mathieu scrambled around for the papers. "What are they, sir?"

"None of your business!"

"Got a problem?" came a voice from the doorway that wasn't Stefan's. Chabert had arrived and was watching sternly.

"Nothing," said Mathieu, standing up. He looked at the papers in his hands. "It's music.

"What for?"

"For a choir."

"In the toilets?" he asked. Mathieu didn't answer. "Get out, 'choirboys'!"

The four boys left and Chabert warned Mathieu about having a choir in the school. He seemed a rather strict teacher that claimed to see 'evil' everywhere at the school.

Outside in the yard, the three thieves caught Stefan. "Why didn't you give us away?" asked Morhange. "You lied to your father for us?"

"I didn't want you to get into trouble," explained Stefan. "I planned on taking those papers back to him and claim I'd just found them lying around, pretending I had no idea who took them. It's a shame Mathieu arrived when he did."

"But why lie for us?" asked Le Querrec. "To your own father?"

"He's no…he knows me. I hate seeing people get into trouble and be punished. I've seen enough of that in the past and I don't want to see any more! I've had enough of punishment." And he walked off, leaving the boys confused as to why he seemed so upset but grateful that he'd covered for them. Just as Stefan had been wary of them, they'd been wary of him – thinking that, being a supervisor's son, he'd be a goody-two-shoes and would report to his father any misbehaviour but he hadn't. Stefan did well in class but didn't seek any praise for it and hid away from the others, reading by himself. And now he'd lied to his father to cover for them. Maybe he wasn't so bad…

As Mathieu headed to his room for the night after checking over the building (Stefan following him so as to have something to do), yelling came to them from the boys' dorm. No, not yelling…singing. Lousy singing that was really shouting but it was definitely a song of some sort. "Baldy, you are through; the rules won't be made by you! Baldy, you are through; the rules won't be made by you!"

Mathieu opened the double doors and walked slowly through the dorm along the double row of beds. As the boys noticed him, they hurriedly stood at the end of their beds and shut up. By the last bed, only one boy was singing. Corbin was playing his harmonica and sitting on his bed with his back to everyone else so he didn't see Mathieu. Stefan stayed by the door.

"You coping out, guys?" Corbin asked, noticing the silence. He turned and, seeing Mathieu, quickly stood up.

"You're Corbin, yes?" said Mathieu.

"I did nothing, sir."

"Yes, you sing."

"No, sir. I swear…"

"You _sing_! And you sing off-key!" There were a few laughs at this. "You don't even know it. Try again."

Corbin said nothing. "Go on," said Mathieu. "Want to sing in the principal's office? Come on."

He finally got Corbin to sing a little. His singing was awful. "Know you can't carry a tune?" There was more laughing at this.

Another boy, Leclerc, stepped forward. "Is that music in your briefcase, sir?"

"None of your business." Mathieu headed for the door. "And by the way," he stopped to look at them, "the next person who goes through my things…will pay dearly. Now, silence and get to bed! Fun's over!" The boys did as they were told. Mathieu turned to his son. "You, too, Stefan!" Stefan, still standing by the door, jumped and nodded before heading to his room.

Mathieu went into his room but noticed, through the window, that Pepinot was still up, sitting on his blankets (probably to stop them being stolen). "Go to sleep," he told the boy and, after a moment, Pepinot lay down on top of his blanket.

In his room, Mathieu thought about the song. Their singing was lousy but they sang! He'd also heard some good voices in there. Couldn't he do something for them? He was a failed musician and had 'vowed never to take up music again…never say never'. Mathieu took out some blank music sheets from his leather case and started writing, long into the night. Something's always worth trying…


	5. Chapter 5

Stefan's War

**Chapter Five** – Stefan and Pierre Morhange

_January 23__rd_. Just a week after Mathieu had arrived and Maxence's accident, the old man suddenly got worse and Maxence had to be taken away to hospital. Mathieu and Le Querrec watched as he was taken away on a stretcher. "Is he going to die?" Le Querrec asked.

"No. He'll be saved," Mathieu assured him. But the boy didn't see the doubtful look on his face.

That day, Pepinot had a problem in class. He'd been called up to the front of the class and was struggling to answer Rachin's history questions. "Pepinot, you're _useless_! Last question. The last one! How did Marshall Ney die?"

Mathieu, who was standing behind Rachin, started miming that he was holding a gun. Pepinot tried to understand and the class laughed. Rachin looked behind him a couple times to see what was up but all he found was Mathieu fidgeting. Pepinot took a guess. "Out hunting?" Mathieu sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Zero. Write 100 times: 'Marshall Ney was shot'." The school bell rang and Rachin turned to the class. "Get out!"

The class put away their things and headed out. Surprisingly, Morhange had been writing in his book and put it away under his desk.

As Boniface and Stefan headed for the door, Rachin called them over. In History, they sat together and were the two best students. They were the best students in all their classes. They looked at each other, nervous, but Rachin called them again more gently and they stepped up. "Both of you have done very well. As a prize for your essays, you'll each get a cookie from Marie. _You_ knew that Marshall Ney was shot."

"Yes, sir," said Boniface, "like Napoleon."

Mathieu and Stefan smiled while Rachin frowned. "Get out," he dismissed them. "One moment, Morhange!"

Morhange, who had been walking by, stopped to look at him. Stefan also paused, worried. He hated Rachin's punishments and it looked like Morhange was heading for trouble. Morhange and Stefan stood next to Mathieu and all three looked at Rachin. Though Stefan was only younger than Morhange by a couple years, the height difference was vast. While Morhange was just an inch or two shorter than Mathieu, Stefan stood between them and his head barely reached Morhange's chin (about level with Mathieu's shoulder). Stefan had been teased a few times in class over his small stature and nearly every boy was a head taller than him.

Rachin spoke to Morhange, frowning slightly. "You took notes during class. Such dedication from you is surprising. Show me your book." Morhange didn't move. Rachin sighed angrily and headed to the boy's desk. The three watched him go before Morhange turned to look at the other two. Stefan looked, perhaps, the most worried.

Rachin flipped through the book and found what he was looking for. "Charming!" he said, walking towards them. He handed the book to Mathieu. He seemed strangely calm. "Read it. Admire the spelling."

Mathieu's eyes widened when he saw the page. "Mr Rachin eats cartloads of shit." There was also a crude drawing of Rachin leaning over a toilet.

"It says 'Mr'?" asked Rachin, surprised.

"No." Mathieu had improvised, out of politeness.

Rachin nodded. "Mr Mathieu. Action – reaction. Punished!" He left them to it.

Stefan had been looking down the whole time, trying to hide a smile. With Rachin gone, a couple laughs burst from his lips. "…Sorry."

Mathieu hit him lightly on the head with the book before putting it down and leading Morhange to the dungeon. "Come on." Stefan watched them go sadly.

Mathieu headed to dinner, slightly late due to Morhange's punishment. Stefan was already there and was silently filling his plate. He looked up as Mathieu entered but said nothing. Mathieu joined the teachers up at their table and began filling his plate. Further down the table from Stefan, a boy spoke to Pepinot. "Hungry, Pepinot?" Pepinot pulled something small and blue from his pocket (Stefan was too far away to see what). The boy took the object and handed Pepinot a plate. "You're allowed to eat."

Stefan frowned. Poor Pepinot! How often did he go without food, due to the older boys' bullying? Stefan looked down at his plate and thought about Morhange going hungry in the dungeon. Looking quickly round, he started filling another plate, leaving his meal only half-eaten. He wasn't that hungry and the food wasn't exactly good, anyway.

Up at the teachers' table, Mathieu asked about Pepinot. "An orphan," explained Chabert. "His parents died during the Nazi operation."

"How did they die?"

"Dunno. But he thinks his dad's coming for him Saturday. Each Saturday, no one comes. So we say: next week, and so on."

"Why not tell him the truth?" asked Mathieu.

"We told him his parents died together. But I don't think he's accepted it. So we let him wait by the gates. Why not? If he's happy." One of the tables had become very loud and Chabert got up to deal with it. "Silence!" He turned to Mathieu. "See that? Action – reaction."

Mathieu looked at him. "Meaning?"

"Action," said Chabert, moving his left hand to look like someone's mouth talking. He then grabbed his wrist sharply with his right hand, and the left hand stilled. "Reaction."

"Someone's here to see Morhange," said the cleaning lady, standing by the door.

"Morhange is punished," said Mathieu.

"No visitors," added Chabert. "It's the rule!"

"You go tell her," said the lady and left. Chabert indicated to Mathieu that he, as Morhange's teacher, should go and Mathieu got up with a sigh. Taking advantage of the teachers' distraction, Stefan got up and swiftly sneaked out of the room, holding a plate of food.

He ran down to the dungeon and found Morhange locked up in the cell. He was surprised to see Stefan. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you some food," said Stefan, pushing the plate through a gap in the cell bars. "I figured you were hungry. I know the food's not great but it's better than nothing."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Morhange. "You could get into trouble."

"I told you before: I _hate_ seeing people being punished. I saw a lot of that in the war and I don't want to see any more of it. Innocent people being beaten and starved and dragged off so you never see them again…" Stefan looked away, half-angry and half-upset, like he'd said too much. He looked back at Morhange. "I'll be back for the plate. Can't let anyone find it or else they'll know someone sneaked you some food. And we'll both be punished." He ran off, leaving Morhange to stare after him.

Mathieu, meanwhile, had just met Morhange's mother – and was immediately attracted to her. She was around forty and had long red hair. It was clear where Morhange had got his good looks from. She was in an empty room, sitting by the window. Mathieu opened the door and introduced himself as Morhange's supervisor.

"Hello," she smiled. "I'm Pierre Morhange's mother."

"Clement Mathieu."

"I know it's not a visiting day but it's the only time I can come…" She looked at him, wondering where Pierre was and asked if he was being punished again.

"No!" cried Mathieu, not wanting to upset her. "He's…not here. A…toothache. He's at the dentist. Not serious – he'll be back tonight."

"I can't wait," she said. "I'm due back at work at 5pm. Can I leave you something?"

"Of course!"

She had some clothes for her son. Violette Morhange was Pierre's unwed mother, despairing over her son who was a thief, introverted, and a chronic runaway from a state school. He was sent to Fond de l'Etang against her wishes but she'd told the judge, "At least he'll get a hot meal twice a day."


	6. Chapter 6

Stefan's War

**Chapter Six** – The Experiment and A New Friendship

_January 30__th_. 'The experiment begins.' Mathieu lined the boys up and got each one to sing a song they knew. Then he separated them into sopranos, altos or bass. Stefan sat at his desk. Mathieu had loved music for years and, of course, had searched Stefan for any musical talent but the boy wanted nothing to do with music. When Mathieu tried to force him to sing, a weird sound came out of the boy's mouth that couldn't be classed as singing but Mathieu felt that it was put on; that Stefan deliberately made the noise to make it seem like he was a bad singer. Eventually, the man gave up as Stefan refused to have anything to do with music or show interest in…anything, really, except books.

When it came to Pepinot's turn, the little boy said he knew no songs so Mathieu offered to teach him some and, for the time being, made him assistant-choirmaster. Stefan smiled at that. He was becoming very fond of Pepinot, as was Mathieu. He really was the nicest little boy.

Then Mathieu got the boys to beat on their desks in time with each other to establish rhythm. They were all quite good singers – except Corbin! Despite his best efforts, Mathieu could not get him to hold a note. So he made him hold the music sheets, acting as a music-stand. And, now the choir was assembled, Mathieu slowly tried them out with a few simple notes. They practised between class and at night before bed, with Pepinot and Stefan watching from the sides and Corbin holding the music when necessary. It wasn't great singing but it had their attention and they seemed eager to learn. To take it further, Mathieu needed help from above. He needed Rachin's permission.

"What? A _choir_?" demanded Rachin, removing his reading glasses so as to look at Mathieu clearer. "Mathieu, you're way off base. You'll never get them to sing a note."

"Please, sir, don't say that… They already sing – just a bit!"

"So why ask permission if you're already doing it? I don't like your methods!" Mathieu went to protest but Rachin cried, "You annoy me. I've got more serious problems. Then again, why not? I could use a good laugh. Go ahead – make them sing. But if it turns sour, you're fired! Go!"

Mathieu went to leave but added, "Thanks for your support, sir." He quickly left, with Rachin frowning after him.

_February 8__th_. Morhange was let out of punishment but Rachin was still angry, making him do a month of community service. For the whole time he was locked up, Stefan sneaked down to see him and keep him company and often brought food with him. Morhange was confused as to why Stefan did it but he got no real explanation, just 'I was bored and figured I'd come see you'. Mathieu suspected that Stefan was up to something and believed he was sneaking food to Morhange (judging how often the boy disappeared during meal-times) but as he never actually caught Stefan there (thankfully), he could did nothing about it.

Stefan still kept to himself, though, and wouldn't make friends with anyone. If not in class or in his room, he was in the library. The boys were starting to relax as they liked Mathieu so were behaving better and, though they couldn't get to know Stefan as he stayed away from them, they tried to welcome him to the class as he seemed all right. He'd refused to rat them out and had actually lied to his own father over the music sheets to protect them so they invited him to join in their activities. But he wouldn't. He did hang around for the choir, though he didn't take part, and watched them practice – this was the only time Stefan actually chose to hang out with his classmates.

With Morhange out of punishment but forced to do community service, Stefan saw little of him and Morhange was surprised to find that he rather missed the company. Whilst cleaning and working, he wished Stefan was there to talk to; a strange concept for him as he was rather a loner himself. One day while cleaning outside the classroom, he heard the choir singing along to Mathieu's instructions and looked in through the window. Nobody saw him except Stefan as they were all focused on the music. Stefan caught his eye, smiled for a moment, and then turned to Mathieu again.

Some hours later, when everyone was gone, Morhange sneaked into the classroom and looked at the blackboard. He tried singing some of the notes and, day by day, began learning the songs the choir were doing (always when nobody was around). He was careful not to be caught as being in the classroom after hours was a punishable offence – and he didn't particularly want to be caught singing, either. Until one day, by chance, someone heard him singing and came to investigate.

Stefan looked in at the window and was surprised to see Morhange – and was even more surprised to hear him sing. Listening to his classmate, Stefan realised how great of a singer the blond boy was and smiled at how Mathieu would react if he found out about his voice. Unfortunately, Morhange saw him and, upset he'd been caught singing and in the classroom after hours, lunged for the door. Stefan turned and tried to run, not liking the look on Morhange's face, but was neither fast enough to escape nor strong enough to break the blond boy's grasp. Morhange dragged the smaller boy back into the classroom and turned on him. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came back for my pen! I left it behind earlier and I don't want to lose it."

"What do you need your pen for? We don't have class until tomorrow; you'll get it then."

"…I just do," said Stefan, lamely. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I'm…cleaning," lied Morhange.

"Oh, really? Without your cleaning supplies? They're just sitting at the door."

"What did you hear?" demanded Morhange, blocking Stefan when he tried to duck around him for the door.

"Nothing!"

"Then why did you run?"

"Because you looked furious! Like you wanted to kill me or at least beat me up! Look, I just came for my pen, ok? I heard and saw nothing. I shouldn't be here either after hours, missing pen or not, so I can't say anything or I'll get into trouble myself. I _just_ came for my pen."

Looking at him, Morhange saw that he was being truthful – at least about the not telling part – and relaxed. "All right. Neither of us was here. I'll see you later." He went to leave but stopped. "You want help finding your pen?"

"No, I'm good. You better get back to cleaning." He waved goodbye before turning to the classroom, ready to search.

"What's that?" Morhange asked, catching sight of something on Stefan's wrist.

Stefan froze. "It's nothing."

"Are you wearing a bracelet?" Morhange asked, starting to laugh.

"…Okay, yes. It belonged to a friend of mine, who meant a lot to me. But she had to leave and she gave me this to remember her."

"A girlfriend?"

"Well, she was a girl and she was my friend but that was all. Anyway, this is her bracelet. I'm afraid of taking if off in case I lose it or it gets stolen so…I wear it all the time. Along with…" Stefan paused, like he'd said too much. He did that a lot.

"Along with?" encouraged Morhange.

"A necklace. It belonged to my mother and I always wear it. It's hidden under my jumper. I thought my bracelet was hidden under my sleeve but…You won't tell anyone, will you? They'll probably laugh at me for wearing jewellery."

Morhange did want to laugh at this boy who wore girl's jewellery and tease him with the other boys but seeing the sad, despairing look on his face, he changed his mind. This boy was so silent, so serious…Morhange wondered if this girl friend and the mother had been taken from Stefan during the war. It certainly provided a reason for his behaviour. Along with curiosity, Morhange also felt a trace of something he was not familiar with: pity. He then made up his mind.

"No, I won't tell. Remember – we never saw each other!"

"Right," said Stefan and smiled at him. A real genuine smile – not the small, reluctant ones he'd shown before. It reached from ear to ear and lit up his eyes.

They turned away and went on with their activities. But both felt that, despite being natural loners, they might just have made a friend…


	7. Chapter 7

Stefan's War

**Chapter Seven** – A New Student and Some Secrets

_February 15__th_. Dr Dervaux, the psychiatrist, brought a present: a new student by the name of Mondain. The two arrivals met in Rachin's office with the principal, along with Chabert and Mathieu. Mondain was a tall, heavy-set red-haired boy, around sixteen and looked like a thug.

"We took him out of St. Fereol detention centre, to see if he'll adapt to a less repressive environment. Unlike his classmates, Pascal Mondain reads and writes. He speaks almost normally. We gave him the Binet-Simon test. He also did an inkblot test and a TAT."

The doctor went over the test. It divided kids into 7 categories: normal, satisfactory, limited, slightly retarded, medium or severely and, finally, idiots. "Mondain's 'limited'," explained the doctor, "in other words, not insane. But I must warn you," he spoke more quietly, "he's a pervert with gregarious tendencies."

"Really?" was Rachin's response.

Chabert cleared his throat and asked, "What does that mean?"

Rachin tried to explain but didn't know himself. "Well… Doctor?"

The doctor explained, "A tendency toward cruelty, parasitism, destructive acts, and pathological lying."

"There," said Rachin, looking at Chabert.

"We've got lots of those," said Chabert.

"But here, boys have access to a wider education," the doctor continued, smiling. "I wonder how he'll adapt to your system."

"We'll do our best," Rachin confirmed, standing politely and also smiling, "to live up to your scientific expectations. Take charge of him." Mathieu and Chabert escorted Mondain out. Rachin wore his natural frown again and whispered to them, "Action – reaction." He put on the fake smile and turned once more to the naïve doctor.

Outside, Mondain was ruffling through his bag with a cigarette in his mouth. Mathieu knew if his experiment was to work and for him to have control over the boy, he needed to show authority from the start. "No cigarettes here," Mathieu told him.

Mondain looked up at this and marched right up to him, standing almost toe to toe. He was slightly taller than Mathieu and waves of hostility rolled off him. Mathieu sensed that this boy deeply resented authority. Oh, he was gonna be trouble. His next words confirmed this: "You look like an arsehole."

"Behave," Mathieu warned him. "Or you're in big trouble."

"Ok," said Mondain, taking a drag from his cigarette. He blew the smoke into Mathieu's face and smiled. "Big trouble!"

Later, Stefan was heading to class with Morhange and Corbin. The boys were still trying to befriend Stefan but, though he was civil enough and got on well with them, he still showed little interest in befriending his classmates (he seemed apprehensive about getting close to anyone). The three were chatting happily enough when they arrived at the classroom door and saw Mathieu pass through it into the little corridor, along with a tall, burly red-haired student. They did not notice the three boys.

Corbin and Morhange were curious about the new student but Stefan had frozen completely. "Oh, my God," he whispered. "Mondain!"

Morhange and Corbin looked at Stefan, confused. "I…I think I'm going to be sick!" And Stefan suddenly turned tail and ran, looking panic-stricken. The two boys stared after him but continued for the classroom, else they'd get in trouble for being late. They told Mathieu about Stefan before sitting down and Mathieu looked down the corridor, wondering if he should go see his son. But he couldn't leave the class and had to deal with Mondain. He just hoped Stefan would be alright.

Mathieu set about trying to get Mondain into the choir. "You must know a song!"

"Well, yes, but…"

"But?" asked Mathieu.

Mondain smiled. "You won't like it." He didn't. "_One summer day, I took out my knob, to give myself a nice hand-job-_"

"Enough," sighed Mathieu. The class was laughing behind them.

Mondain continued singing, "_Up yours I go-_"

"That'll do!" shouted Mathieu.

"I told you so."

"Not bad," said Mathieu. "In time, you'll be a baritone."

"A what?" demanded Mondain, stepping forward and looking furious.

"A baritone-it's not an insult! It means a deep voice." Mathieu explained quickly. This Mondain scared him. He no longer feared Rachin or the boys as he had now settled in but this new boy really did scare him. He pointed to a group of boys. "Go stand with the bases."

Mondain obeyed, muttering, "Shit!"

"Leave your shit out of it."

The class laughed at this, which annoyed Mondain. "Laugh and I'll slug ya!" he shouted. They were immediately silenced.

"Any time, Mondain!" came a voice from the door. It was Chabert, with Pepinot and Morhange. Mondain looked at him before going to sit down.

Chabert pushed Morhange forward and the boy headed for his seat. "Solitary is over. Here's Pepinot. You forgot him at the gate." He led the boy over by his hand before leaving.

Mathieu picked him up and sat him on the desk. "Pepinot, it's not Saturday." He smiled affectionally and ruffled the boy's hair before turning back to the class.

Chabert, who was leaving, held the door open for Stefan who had just arrived. He looked awful. Stefan was naturally quite skinny and pale but he looked a sickly greenish-grey colour. Glancing round the classroom, he caught sight of Mondain and immediately looked down. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered to Mathieu before heading to his seat. Normally in this class, he sat beside Morhange halfway up the room but for some reason, he sat a few rows down, right at the front of the class and closest to the door.

"Stefan, go to your seat," ordered Mathieu, looking at him curiously. What was wrong with the boy?

Stefan stared at Mathieu for a moment, horrified, but slowly and reluctantly did what he'd ordered. Keeping his head well down, Stefan moved up to sit beside Morhange who was bent over, tying his show and not paying any attention to anyone or anything else. Directly behind Morhange sat Mondain and Stefan was very conscious of this fact. He sat very tense and hunched over, looking like he was either about to cry or throw up.

Mathieu looked at him worriedly before speaking to the class. "By the way, in your letters to your parents…"

"I've got none," said Leclerc.

"I mean, for those who have them," explained Mathieu. "Remind them: visits are the 1st and 3rd Thursday-" He saw Morhange still tying his shoe and not listening. "Morhange! Concentrate! What did I say?"

Morhange sat up, having tied his shoe. He sat back and wore a bored expression. "Dunno."

"I said you can write to your mum to visit you on the 1st or 3rd Thursday," said Mathieu, walking up to the desk. "On both, too. But no visits for punished boys. So watch out."

"I don't want to see my folks," said Mondain.

"Morhange wants to see his mum," argued Mathieu.

"He's not the only one."

At this comment, Morhange turned round to look at Mondain, who smiled at him. Stefan sighed and closed his eyes. Oh, no, he realised. This bully is gonna go for Pierre-I mean, Morhange next. Another wave of sickness washed over him and Stefan shivered, suddenly feeling very cold.

Mathieu continued. "Look, Morhange, we've got a real choir." He gestured to the rest of the class.

"Who cares?!"

"I care. Let's hear your voice." He tried to get Morhange to sing a few notes but the boy just blinked at him and refused to open his mouth. "You want to go back into detention?" He tried again and Morhange blew a raspberry at him.

The class laughed while Mathieu sighed. "Being gross isn't your style. We can't all be like Mondain. Once more!" He went to his desk, ready to continue with the choir but Mondain, having taking offence at his last comment, marched out. "Where are you going?" asked Mathieu.

"To piss!"

"Mondain, one moment!" But the red-head was gone. Mathieu handed the music sheets to his 'music-stand'. "Corbin? Take these."

"Can I go piss, too?"

The school bell rang then. "Then everybody out!" They all clambered away. "Quietly! Quietly." He sighed.

Morhange and Stefan were the last to leave. Out in the corridor and out of earshot, Morhange grabbed Stefan's jumper to hold him back. "What's wrong with you? You ran off to be sick and then came into class, looking like you're about to drop dead. What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," Stefan lied, not very convincingly.

"You sure as hell don't look fine. And it's something to do with Mondain. Now, what is it?"

Stefan looked around, checking to make sure no one was listening. "I've met Mondain before, ok? At a boarding school. And he made my life hell. He tried to… It doesn't matter. But you need to stay away from him. He's a monster who will make your life hell. You're the new target. I realised that when he focused on your mother. Don't rise to him. He'll taunt you and try to make you go for him – that's his tactic. But he's much bigger and stronger and you won't win. Anything he does to you, he'll claim it was self-defence as _you_ attacked him first. He always did that. So avoid him at all costs!"

"You're afraid of him? No, more like terrified," Morhange realised, looking into Stefan's eyes. "What did he do to make you like this?"

Stefan hesitated for a moment. His behaviour was so strange. It was like he was trying to talk but someone was strangling him and he could only choke certain words out. "He…tried to kill me! Attacked me with a knife! He killed my friends, sent them away. Sent me away." Stefan looked down at the ground as he spoke, his eyes taking on a far-away look. When he looked back up, Morhange took a step back as Stefan's eyes held a desperate, slightly insane look. "Stay away from Mondain! Or you'll lose everything…"

And with that, the small dark-haired boy ran off.

Later, Morhange went back to the classroom for some more late night singing. He'd been continuing to do this every night, even since Stefan had found him (trusting him not to say anything). Stefan hadn't come back, nor had he mentioned the singing but it was clear that he knew Morhange was practising. The way he looked at Morhange and the music on the blackboard, and how he ensured he had all his things so he wouldn't have to come back later, gave this away. Morhange was grateful for this.

It was strange. The two never talked or hung out together or did anything that friends usually did and yet, there seemed to be _some_ kind of friendship. Stefan had seemed to be loosening up after spending time with the choir and was becoming friendlier with the boys because of it. He'd even offered to help the odd boy if they were struggling with their schoolwork. But he was most comfortable around Morhange, who'd been hoping that the protective 'shell' Stefan had built around himself might be breaking down. Now, at the arrival of Mondain, it had not only been built back up – it had doubled.

Morhange silently entered the classroom, still thinking about the strange boy he believed to be his friend. Standing by the desk, he went to sing but was distracted by someone sobbing. It was coming from behind the desk; someone was hiding behind the desk, out of sight of the door. Leaning over the edge, Morhange found Stefan! It sounded like he was choking, but really, he was just crying. He was holding a book, with the front cover open – and glued into it were two black-and-white photos, each one showing a different family. The top photo had two adults, a girl and a boy; the bottom showed two adults and one girl. Morhange didn't recognise any of them. "Who's that?"

Stefan gasped, slammed the book closed and looked up. Their faces were now only inches apart and Morhange leaned back to put some distance between them. "Why are you crying?"

"Go away! This has nothing to do with you."

"No! I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me." To prove his point, he walked around the desk and sat in front of him. "Now talk! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you crying? Why do you wear a bracelet and necklace from mothers and girlfriends? What's with all this weird behaviour? You said Mondain tried to _kill_ you?! You can't be serious?!"

Stefan glared at him but refused to speak. He hugged the book to his chest and looked away, frowning.

"Stefan…please." Morhange adopted a different tactic. "Look, you're a very strange person. Ever since you arrived, you've seemed rather strange. There's something about you that's not…quite right. No offence! But you're not a bad person. You've done a lot of good things while here, despite your strangeness and your habit of trying to avoid everyone. You've helped me a lot. Now, I want to help you. That's what friends are for, right?"

Stefan looked at him then. "Friends? I can't remember when I last had a friend. But it's not always safe to have friends. People use them as a weakness. Mondain did. At the boarding school where we met. He hurt my friends, which hurt me."

"Talk to me," said Morhange.

Stefan bit his lip, considering, before sighing. "Oh, what the hell. I was trying to hide my face from Mondain earlier, hoping he wouldn't recognise me, but he'll soon realise I'm here and then he'll tell everyone." Stefan sighed before explaining. "Things were hell during the war and I had a hard time, like many others. After it ended, people didn't know what to do with me so I got chucked into this boarding school where they put all the troubled kids…'lost causes', we were."

"Where was your dad, Mathieu?"

Stefan went to say something but paused. "He…Well, where is your mother? And all the boys here – where are their parents? I doubt any of them sent you here by choice! I was _made_ to go to the boarding school. Mathieu could do nothing. Anyway, Mondain had been there a while and had this friend who was very sick. When I arrived, his friend died and Mondain blamed me, saying I must have brought some…disease or bad luck which killed him. Ridiculous, of course, but there's no reasoning with Mondain. He wanted to make me pay. He scared all the other children and made sure none of them befriended me. He taunted me, daily beatings, etcetera."

"But I got through it. I had a couple friends. There was a supervisor called Mr Bonnaire and his wife was the librarian. Few children there could read or write and those that could certainly didn't enjoy it so nobody went to the library. It became my sanctuary. Mrs Bonnaire became my friend, someone to talk to. The other person I had was a little boy called Thomas. He was very much like Pepinot. He was picked on due to his size and nobody took much notice of him – as we had no one else to talk to, we became friends."

"But then it all went bad. Mr Bonnaire caught Mondain out one night, when he should have been in bed, and Mondain killed him. There was no proof but…everyone knew it. Mondain scared everyone, even the teachers. Nobody dared challenge him. Mrs Bonnaire couldn't stand to stay in the place where her husband had been murdered and moved away. Sad as I was to lose a friend, I couldn't blame her. I just wished I could have gone with her…"

"Then nearly a year after I'd arrived, after Mondain's friend died, Mondain decided that it was time for me to die, too. Pay for my sins. He attacked me with a knife but Thomas jumped in, trying to save me, and got in the way. He died in my arms. By that time, the teachers had arrived and dragged Mondain off but it was too late for Thomas. Still scared of Mondain, they said _I_ was the problem and sent me away, since my presence upset Mondain. I was the victim and yet I got punished while Mondain got away with it. But I was sent off to a much nicer place and then Mathieu…got me out."

Stefan looked at Morhange. "Morhange, I was very unhappy to hear I was coming here. Too many bad memories from my last boarding school but, now I've been here, I've found it isn't so bad. I'd actually started to like it. And now Mondain's here! Now things are going to get bad again."

"No, it won't," Morhange tried to cheer him up. "You like this place better now. Yes, it's horrible but it's not all bad sometimes. And you like us, don't you – your classmates? We'd all be happy to accept you and be your friends. We could help you with Mondain."

"We can't be friends," Stefan whispered. "Mondain will use that as an advantage. He'll hurt my friends to hurt me. Still, I'm safe for a while. I've changed a lot so he won't recognise me at first but once he does…" As he spoke, he held on to the silver necklace he wore – the one he'd said belonged to his mother.

"Does Mondain know about your necklace? Or the bracelet your friend gave you?" asked Morhange.

Stefan shook his head. "No. I'm good at protecting the things that are valuable to me. I've taken these three things with me always and I'll be _damned_ if I let someone take them from me now."

He looked quite aggressive at this point and Morhange was glad to see the fire in his eyes, rather than tears. But then he thought of something. "Wait. Three things? But you only have two: the necklace and the bracelet."

Stefan examined him, wondering whether to trust him. "…I'm going to trust you, Morhange. Trust is something I haven't been able to do in a long time but…I want to change this and I want to trust you. Please don't betray my trust."

"I'll do my best," promised Morhange.

The dark-haired boy released the book he held and showed it to Morhange. It had a red cover with little jewels all-round the edges and was rather girly. "This is a diary. My friend, Hanna, gave it to me for my birthday. I've been writing in it since I was seven. For her birthday, I gave her this bracelet but she had to move away, due to the war, and gave me the bracelet to remember her by." Stefan held up his wrist. It was a simple chain with various charms attacked to it. "Every year on her birthday, I add another charm to it."

"No offence but that is rather…girly, don't you think? I mean, I can understand the bracelet but the girly diary? I can't see a girl giving that to a boy. Maybe to another girl but…"

Stefan smiled at him. "I know. And that's what she did. She gave this book to her best friend, Stephanie."

Morhange stared at Stefan.

"Why do you think I have my own room?" Stefan continued. "They said 'lack of room' as an excuse but I'm sure they could easily have put my bed in your dorm. There's certainly more room in the dorm than there is in the closet space I've got. It's because I can't share with you boys."

"You mean…? You're…?"

Stefan smiled at him. "Yes, Morhange. My real name's 'Stefanie'. Pleasure to meet you, 'Pierre'."


	8. Chapter 8

Stefan's War

**Chapter Eight** – Dates, A Day Out and Mondain Finds Out

Morhange struggled to deal with the fact that his new friend was, in actual fact, a girl. He now understood what was behind her strange behaviour and was pleased she'd trusted him enough to tell him. Though, as she'd said, Mondain would no doubt tell everyone once he learned that Stefan/Stefanie was there. At the old boarding school, Mondain had bullied 'Stefanie' whose hair had been a lot longer, and who had been much smaller and skinnier. Now, she was 'Stefan' and was determined for it to stay this way. Stefan decided to be a boy to fit in better or, rather, to simply blend in. Of course, all the teachers knew – the school had needed to plan suitable arrangements for having a girl, like preparing her own room. Rachin hadn't been happy but the school needed a supervisor and only Mathieu had applied so Rachin agreed to let the girl into the school, as long as she caused no trouble and didn't distract the boys. The boy disguise was necessary.

But as shocked as Morhange was, he was also pleased and excited. He was now in on a secret that nobody else knew (except the teachers, of course). No other boy knew the truth and it pleased him for some strange reason. The fact that he was now aware of a girl in the school also pleased him. It was exciting to have a girl there. The closet the school ever came to girls was the principal's daughters and they never came into the school building – they were certainly never near the boys. His three daughters could often be seen through the class windows, going about their day, not knowing the boys could see them and barely knowing they existed at all. They knew about Pepinot as he often wandered off to the gate and they either heard him being talked about or found him themselves.

But now there was an actual girl there. He – or she, rather – wasn't bad looking, either. Stefan rarely smiled but her whole face lit up when she did and she looked a lot kinder and sweeter. Sweeter? thought Morhange. What am I thinking? But Stefan _could_ be quite sweet and seemed to be getting fond of Morhange. Morhange liked the girl a great deal and liked how she'd started calling him by his first name. _Pierre_…it sounded nice when she said it. The only other person who used this name was his mother, who he did care for despite rarely seeing her. Yes, Morhange was becoming increasingly fond of Stefan and had started looking back over all their talks and visits as 'dates'. Oh, don't be stupid, he told himself. They were just friends.

The truth about Mondain was also something to deal with. The blond realised what Stefan had meant when, one day, Morhange had to do the laundry. He was singing as he did – the new song the choir was learning – when he heard a noise. He stopped, wondering who else could be there, when Mondain leapt out at him. After trying to run, Mondain wouldn't let him leave and taunted him about his mother, claiming Mrs Morhange was a whore. Morhange grabbed him by the throat and the two fell over, taking some of the newly cleaned sheets and towels with them. The cleaning lady came in and interrupted them.

Mondain was put in the dungeon while Morhange went into detention again, cleaning. The difference between them was that 'detention' was a part of the school sealed off by iron bars. There were more boys and more room but you were still locked up…

Morhange managed to escape when let out of detention and ran into town, where he found the café his mother worked in. It was pouring rain and he was completely soaked but he didn't care. He watched her cleaning tables and serving customers, hiding behind a car across the street, before walking away. He was just going by a small shop when a small, dark-haired someone came out of the doorway and bumped right into him.

"Stefan?"

"Morhange?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I…asked you first."

Stefan smiled and held up a small bag. "I was buying a charm for my bracelet. It's almost Hanna's birthday and there are only certain days Mathieu can let me out without Rachin finding out."

"Mathieu lets you out?"

"Yes, because he knows I'll come back. And what about you?"

"…Mondain said something about my mother. I wanted to see her."

"Oh," whispered Stefan. "I did warn you about him. Erm, are you coming back to school?"

Morhange looked at him. "You aren't gonna drag me back?"

"As if I could," argued Stefan. "No, it's your choice. I can't force you to come back. But I think it'd be better if you did. I'd like to walk back with you. Your choice."

Stefan walked off and went down the street, putting the small bag in her pocket. She was pleased to find a certain blond someone walking along beside her a couple minutes later.

The two walked back to the school, sometimes talking to pass the time but mainly kept up a comfortable silence. Having the other one there for company was enough. Mathieu was surprised to open the door and find them but was pleased that Morhange, who'd suddenly disappeared, had chosen to come back. Nobody knew where he'd been and Stefan refused to say.

"I'm glad you came back," Stefan later told Morhange when they were alone. "I'd have missed you if you'd left. It's nice having someone to talk to."

"Maybe you could talk to some of the other boys, too?" Morhange suggested, hoping to break through Stefan's 'shell' and get her to join in more and make friends.

"Yeah, I guess so. It couldn't hurt to talk to a few more," Stefan reasoned. "Mondain still hasn't recognised me so I'm safe for a little while, though I'm worried about him going for you. You won't tell anyone the truth, will you? For now?"

"Of course not. I said I wouldn't betray your trust. Just make sure you don't tell anyone about my singing." Stefan laughed. "You know, you should laugh more. You look good when you laugh."

She looked at him. "Really?"

"Er, yeah," he confirmed, feeling slightly embarrassed now he'd said that.

"Speaking of singing," Stefan continued. "You're really good, you know? I used to love singing but I don't anymore."

"You can sing?" Morhange asked, surprised.

"Yes, not that Mathieu knows. It's just a hobby. I don't want it to be a career. I'm not that great. But Mathieu would still try and I don't want that. I want to be an artist."

"You like drawing?"

"I love it," smiled Stefan. "Often when Mathieu lets me out of the building, I spend my time drawing the nearby landscape. And I sometimes copy things out of books. I draw in my diary and those drawings are part of my life. For example, when I came here, I drew the school, the classrooms and my room. There are also drawings of my old boarding school."

"Can I see them?"

"No!" cried Stefan. "Sorry, no. I'm not…ready to show them."

"Well, I'd like to hear you sing at least. Here's an idea! Meet me in the classroom tonight and we'll practise that song the choir's doing. You know the song and your father was a music teacher so you can help me if I'm doing something wrong."

"Okay, then," smiled Stefan. "It's a date!"

Morhange smiled awkwardly as a curious feeling entered his stomach. It felt like butterflies…

Morhange had blushed at this statement, which rather confused Stefan but she ignored it. She was happier than she had been in a long time and was pretty much skipping when she left Morhange. She was heading for the library, using a short-cut through one of the lesser used corridors, when a hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her against the wall. "Mondain!" she cried out.

"Hello, Stefanie," he smiled, making him look like a shark. "Long time no see."

Stefan watched him warily. "Yes, it is."

"I didn't recognise you at first. You _have_ changed. You're a lot taller and not as skinny as before and your _hair_ is so much shorter! Why, you could pass for a boy! But that's what you _have_ been doing, isn't it? I don't think any of your classmates seem to be aware that they're living with a girl. I wonder how they'd react?"

"You can't tell them!"

"Or what?"

"…Mathieu will find a way of throwing you out."

"Ah, yes. Mathieu. The supervisor. I've heard some strange things from the boys here. They seem to be under the impression that he's your father and that you arrived here with him."

"I did arrive here with Mathieu."

"But he's not your father! The boys have been wondering why you call him 'Mathieu', not 'Dad'. But we know why, don't we? He's not your daddy, is he?"

"He has been, these last few years. After the boarding school – that hell-hole where I met you-" Mondain smirked, "I went to an orphanage. That's where Mathieu found me. He adopted me and I've been travelling with him for the last three years."

"Oh, that's lovely," smiled Mondain, still smiling like a shark. "I also notice you seem quite close to one boy in particular – Morhange?" Stefan's eyes widened in fear. "Yes, I thought so. Are you falling for him? Does he know that his friend is actually a girl and has a crush on him?"

"I don't," growled Stefan.

"Really? Yeah, right! Well, I'm sure we'll find out your feelings when I have a little meeting with him."

Stefan gasped. "You _can't_ hurt him. You _won't_ hurt anybody!"

"You _can't_ stop me! I think I'll start with that little boy you and Mathieu seem very fond of. Pepinot, is it?"

Mondain suddenly let out a cry of pain as Stefan kicked him in the groin. "Don't you _dare_ go near Pepinot!" she screamed. "You killed my friend, Thomas! I won't let you hurt Pepinot!"

"Ah, yes, Thomas!" Mondain managed to laugh while bent over in pain. "How is your scar doing?"

"I still have it."

"Of course. When you nearly cut someone's arm off, that's bound to leave a scar. And if that stupid kid hadn't gotten in the way, it would have been your heart that had the scar. I'm surprised you didn't bleed to death – that cut was pretty deep." He suddenly lunged for Stefan and pulled the sleeve high up her left arm. There, from elbow to shoulder, the entire upper-arm was covered in bandages. "Oh, it's covered up!" He squeezed her upper-arm and Stefan winced. "Still hurts?"

"Yes," Stefan growled through gritted teeth. She shoved at Mondain but the bully was much bigger and didn't move an inch.

"Well. It seems like you've been lucky since you left that boarding school. A nice orphanage, travelling with Mathieu, being here. All so nice… Time for change! I swore you'd pay for killing my friend and I will – starting with your friends."

"I didn't kill him! Look, please, don't hurt these boys!" Mondain smirked and walked off, knowing Stefan would be too scared to follow. "Wait! I'll…make you a deal." Mondain turned, curious.

Stefan looked like she was about to throw up but continued. "I don't want you to hurt my frien-hear me out! They've been lucky, relatively, and are somewhat happy. This isn't the best of places and life used to be hell in the war but things are better. You've already ruined me. I'll never forget you or what you've done – to me and my friends."

She paused, thinking about what she should say. "But these boys have the chance to survive here without you making their lives hell. So here's the deal. You want to make me pay and I don't want you to hurt my friends. So, if they do anything to upset you, I'll take the beating. I'm not _that_ close with these guys so if they left, it wouldn't bother me like it did when Mrs Bonnaire or Thomas did, but I would feel sorry for them if you were beating them up. They don't deserve it. So I'll take any beatings for them."

"You can't hurt me by hurting them – I'm just trying to get by in this place and that means talking to the odd person. I don't really have any _close_ friends." At this point, Stefan was lying through her teeth but she didn't show this to Mondain. She was good with words and lying, having plenty of experience in the past. "I like these guys, they're okay, and I feel sorry for them but that's all. I'm already broken but they still have a chance. Beat me up and leave them alone!"

Mondain stared at her. "You're _asking_ me to beat you up?"

"I'm asking you to spare these boys."

The red-head walked towards her and she tensed. "Well, Stefanie, this is an offer I can't pass up. The idea of you taking a beating and not fighting back, just letting me hurt you…it's like a dream come true. All to save the people in here? You always were a martyr, looking out to save others and sacrifice yourself. Still, I'm not complaining. You have a deal! I'll still be horrible to them, of course – I can't help that – but any physical abuse, I'm coming right to you."

He swaggered off, whistling, while Stefan turned a funny green colour and sank to the floor. What had she done? No, she was doing this for the boys because they _were_ her friends. Though she didn't show it, she was very fond of all these boys (especially Morhange and Pepinot) and she would miss them like hell if they left or were hurt by Mondain. But this wasn't about her. It was about protecting these guys from a monster. And they could never know how much she really cared about people. Caring was foolish but she couldn't help it. Stefan was a very deep and intense person, quietly caring – you would never know how much she cared and might even believe that she didn't care at all. But then a crisis would turn up and she would step up and sacrifice herself, proving just how much she did care. These boys had no idea but she _had_ grown fond of all of them – certain ones more than others.

This was for them…


End file.
